Classified Information
83 Articles
Trump Declassifying Page, Ohr Records Will Have Broader Effects
President Donald Trump plans to declassify documents as early as this week about the FBI’s surveillance of campaign advisor Carter Page pursuant to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance…
Why the White House “System” for Security Clearances is an Intelligence Emergency
Former Bush and Obama official explains what exactly the risks are in having so many White House officials serve under long-term interim security clearances. She looks at the downstream…
It is up to House Intel Committee, not Trump, whether to release Democratic memo on the Page FISA application
News stories and headlines are saying things like, "Trump Blocks Release of Memo Rebutting Republican Claims” (New York Times)--but that's not accurate. The House Intelligence…
You Don’t Need to Know What’s in the Nunes Memo to Worry About Its Release
President Donald Trump has reportedly thrown his support behind the movement to #ReleaseTheMemo. It’s perhaps not surprising that a trending Twitter campaign has received a warm…
Trump’s Disclosure Did Not Break the Law
Since the Washington Post revealed that President Trump had provided “classified” information to Russian diplomats, there have been three rounds of reactions. The first comments…
Norms Watch: Tracking the Erosion of Democratic Traditions (May 12-19)
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the latest installment of Norms Watch, our series tracking both the flouting of democratic norms by the Trump administration and the erosion of…
So You Want to Share Intelligence with Russia … There Are Less Risky Ways to Do It
President Donald Trump clearly believes there is an opportunity for the United States to work with Russia on counterterrorism and the fight against ISIS. Some commentators who’ve defended his…
Why Trump’s Disclosure to Russia (and Urging Comey to Drop the Flynn Investigation, and Various Other Actions) Could Be Unlawful
President Trump’s disclosure of highly classified information about the Islamic State to Russian officials has been widely decried as “terrifying,” “reckless,” and “deeply…
Assessing the Damage of the President’s Intelligence Sharing with Russia
Following the Washington Post’s revelations Monday night, the legality of President Donald Trump’s decision to share sensitive information related to the ISIS bomb threat to…
Don’t Be So Quick to Call Those Disclosures “Legal”
Following multiple reports that President Trump disclosed highly classified information to Russian officials at a private meeting, various legal experts have asserted that Trump…
The Flagrant Foul in Trump’s Disclosure of Classified Info to Russia: The Missing Interagency Process
It was a far more effective strategy for the White House not to deny the facts of the Washington Post report that the president had disclosed information to Russia, but instead…
Five Takeaways from Gen. H.R. McMaster Press Briefing
Here are five key points made by Gen. H.R. McMaster in the press briefing held on Tuesday morning. 1. McMaster said that what President Donald Trump did was “wholly appropriate”…